Has anyone else noticed the recent influx of Holocaust movies? Already the backdrop for reunions (Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes in “The Reader”) and reinventions (Tom Cruise in “Valkyrie”), the Holocaust now provides director Edward Zwick with “Defiance,” a movie with a great story that gets tripped up by unrefined directing.

Daniel Craig plays Tuvia Bielski (and he looks studly in both a flat cap and in the role of leader), but he holds a gun with so much trained grace that it’s hard to believe it’s the same sort of weapon that murdered his parents. He and his brothers take refuge from the invading Germans in a nearby forest, where what was once a group of a few survivors soon balloons to tens and then hundreds, all searching for food, family and faith. Oh, and ammo, of course.

It’s not fair to say that the scenes with gunfights meander on their own, but by the time the plot stops progressing (about an hour in), the action scenes begin to drag as well. And as the monotony that comes with the rat-tat-tat of automatic weapons becomes the unspoken mantra of the Bielski Partisans, you’ll run out of ways to defend the aggressive group. Does it really make sense for these guys to actively seek and destroy Germans?  They can barely fend off the common illnesses; wouldn’t it make more sense for them to prepare for, not initiate, the worst?

Bielski’s outbursts of violence tend to come off as formulaic plot bumps, and in general, “Defiance” does not stray far from the conventions we’ve known for years. Straightforward Biblical references and “Saving Private Ryan”-esque combat flood the screen. You’ll yearn for that decent transition between the heartfelt moment and the bomb-blasting one, but you’ll leave almost empty-handed.

There are genuinely sublime moments of justified revenge and community cohesion, but the camera almost seems to ignore them, hastening away before anyone can appreciate what could be the softer sides of some of the terser characters.

Bielski takes care of hundreds of survivors, but how does Zwick treat them? At times, this movie handles its characters as indifferently as it treats its blue-and-brown color scheme. The director lets the faceless extras roam around together when they have nothing to do, roar in anger together when someone starts a fight, and “ooh” and “ahh” together when a baby is born. The characters who are given some limelight are worse off for it, because they go on to repeat the same one-liners over and over again. Every character is introduced half-heartedly, then lives with little purpose and finally departs unceremoniously.
It’s nearly a disservice to the people who actually lived in these horrifying circumstances. Ultimately, “Defiance” seems to have missed out on what made the story memorable—the raw emotion that comes from saving hundreds upon hundreds of innocent people. In fact, upon further inspection, the movie seems to have missed out on what actually happened, as well. The story is heroic and iconic in so many ways, but Bielski’s steadfast compassion should have been the tale’s real treasure. In the instance of “Defiance,” however, it’s a story better remembered than done.